Wine Blogging Wednesday #24: 2002 Domaine des Baumard Savennieres

I enjoy putting experts in control. If a restaurant has a sommelier, I will almost always ask them to select a wine for me. Doing so usually works out pretty well.

I’ll often do the same at a fine wine shop. And so I did for Wine Blogging Wednesday #24. Unfortunately, the shop’s remodeling had cast the Loire Valley section in disarray. Initially, I expressed interest in Muscadet. But alas, my guide couldn’t find his favorites, so we looked for Savennieres. He wanted to sell me Domaine des Baumard Savennieres Clos du Papillon, but it was nowhere to be found. Thus, we settled on the same producer’s basic Savennieres.

Not that basic was bad. Rather, I found the Domaine Des Baumard 2002 Savennieres to be a very enjoyable wine. It’s a medium to full bodied Chenin Blanc that is very dry with strong, tangy acidity and plenty of minerality. My wife detected white peach and wet newspaper. After a few seconds in the mouth, the wine’s white fruit balances nicely with its acidity. You get a nice, long finish.

To accompany the wine, I fried up some sole (w/ butter, onion, dill, thyme, lemon juice, salt and pepper) and served it on a bed of Basmati rice cooked in chicken bouillon with a side of steamed zucchini. The Baumard Savennieres’ cleansed my palate with every gulp, making each bite of fish almost as good as the first. That’s the great thing about pairing rich food with a dry, acidic wine; the pairing nearly overcomes the law of diminishing marginal utility.

Next, I tried some goat cheese with the Baumard. Delicious. As with the sole, the wine made each bite of cheese almost as good as the first. I suspect Savennieres and goat cheese is a pairing I’ll soon revisit.

Domaine des Baumard is situated in Rochefort sur Loire, near the city of Angers. The vines for this wine grow on south-facing slopes featuring slate and limestone soils. This wine is not aged in oak.

Though the Baumard family has grown vines in the Loire Valley for about 370 years, Jean Baumard established the modern vineyards in the mid 20th century. He expanded the family’s holdings in Anjou, making them the first to establish vineyards on both sides of the Loire River. In addition to being a Professor of Oenology, Jean served as President of the Wine Federation of Anjou and participated in the Loire Valley AOC’s Federation of European and International Public Service Unions. Florent Baumard, also a trained oenologist, took over from his father about 15 years ago. For more information on Domaine des Baumard, visit their thorough website or check out this summary.

Thanks to Alder at Vinography for selecting such a delicious, food friendly theme for WBW#24. [Ed. Whit, I think you’ve got something on your nose.] Come on now, nothing wrong with a little apple for the teacher, eh?

$18.99 at Esquin Wine Merchants, imported by ExCellars Wine Agencies Inc.